Nottingham will play host to a virtual quarter-final between New Zealand and Sri Lanka; a Super Eights game which will see the winners sail through to the semi-finals, along with Pakistan.

Pakistan currently has four points, and so has Sri Lanka, while New Zealand has two. A win for Sri Lanka will see them through. On the other hand, if New Zealand triumph, they will tie with Sri Lanka and Pakistan, but with a net run-rate better than Sri Lanka and not as good as Pakistan’s; essentially meaning that NZ and Pakistan will enter the semis!

Sky Bet offers 8/13 for Sri Lanka to win the game, as against Sporting Bet’s 17/10 for a Kiwi win. It is New Zealand’s sudden issues with injuries that they have gone from being a dark horse to win the tournament, to strugglers who will need to play out of their skins and hope for a dash of luck going their way to go through.

Brendon McCullum (10/3 at 888Sport to be the best Kiwi batsman) had a good start to the tournament, but his form in the last couple of games has fallen away. Unfortunately for his team, that has coincided with the loss of Jesse Ryder to a groin injury and Ross Taylor to his hamstring. Aaron Redmond (4/1 at Totesport to be best Kiwi batsman) had replaced Ryder at the top of the order, and began with a man-of-the-match against Ireland, but couldn’t continue with his form against Pakistan, in a game that saw the team collapse for 99.

Martin Guptill (5/1 at Ladbrokes to be best New Zealander batsman) is a man that the Kiwis will want to bat through the innings, but his story is similar to Redmond’s; good game against the weaker Irish, but nothing to show for against Pakistan. Scott Styris (6/1 at Stan James to be best Kiwi batsman) is another option, but my personal feel is that McCullum has the best chance of getting a big score given that he will face the least number of overs from M.Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis, and it has been seen that the batting against the quicker bowlers is much better during the Powerplay.

T.Dilshan (7/2 at Ladbrokes to be Sri Lanka’s top scorer) has out-batted most of his counterparts, but it also means that the law of averages will play a reasonable role in the game. The good news for Sri Lanka in the last two or three games has been the return to form of Sanath Jayasuriya (7/2 at Coral to be best Sri Lankan batsman) and Mahela Jayawardene (5/1 at Paddy Power to top the Sri Lankan batting)

Kumar Sangakkara (4/1 at Paddy Power to top Sri Lankan batting) had begun the tournament well in his role as an aggressor-cum-grafter of the team, and this quarter-final could just be the right time for him to return to that form.

Tips:
Favourites: Sri Lanka (8/13 at Sky Bet)
Top Sri Lankan batsman: Sanath Jayasuriya (7/2 at Coral)
Top New Zealand batsman: Brendon McCullum (10/3 at 888Sport)